


Clark Returns

by phoenixnz



Series: Nightwing Chronicles [14]
Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan), Smallville
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2019-01-30 05:49:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12647376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixnz/pseuds/phoenixnz
Summary: Clark returns from the fortress to join the search





	Clark Returns

Clark had spent some of the past few months inside what Jor-El called a simulation chamber, teaching Clark to look beyond his self-perceived limitations. When they weren’t training, he was learning about Krypton’s history. 

The fortress wasn’t the only place Clark was learning from. Jor-El sent him out to study other cultures so he could learn how to help people. Clark took the opportunity to write a few articles and send them in to various newspapers. Jor-El had encouraged this, telling him he should continue to live among the humans. In order to do so, he would need a regular job. He’d told his birth father about his interest in journalism, knowing it would be easier for him to hear what was going on and he could help people easier that way.

So far, all Clark had done was help from the shadows. Jor-El had encouraged this as well, saying it would help him by slowly building a name for himself. Eventually, he would emerge from the shadows and show the world who he was and what he could do. 

When he’d asked his birth father the reason, Jor-El had told him that humans as a whole were inherently suspicious of what they could not understand. Years of civil wars, acts of terrorism and the nature of the modern world meant word spread much faster. As could misinformation. All it would take was for a mistake to go viral and the world could turn against him. By not claiming credit for his saves and slowly building up a reputation, it meant the world could learn to trust him. 

He'd been preparing for another trip, this time to the southern hemisphere, when he heard Bruce calling him. He’d left the key with his parents, telling them only to use it in an emergency.

Now Lex was missing.

“Bruce, you’re shivering,” Clark said, seeing his friend wrapping his arms around himself. His lips were turning blue.

“Yeah, it’s freezing.”

Clark wrapped his arms around his friend, warming him up. He glanced up. “Yeah, Krypton had a red sun. This is sort of a simulation of what it was like on Krypton.”

“Well, no wonder you don’t feel the cold.”

He nodded. “What’s going on?”

He listened as Bruce told him what had happened. A woman named Helen Bryce had colluded with Lionel to drug Lex and make people think he had had a psychotic break.

“Do you think this has something to do with the investigation?” Clark asked.

“I would say so. Anyway, Belle Reve has no record of Lex's whereabouts and I have no idea where to look next.”

“Well, somebody must know. Lionel wouldn’t just do this by himself. He had to have help.”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

Clark bit his lip. He had to complete his training, but this was important.

“Jor-El?”

“I am here, my son. I sense you are torn.”

“Lex is my friend. Well, he’s more than my friend.”

“I understand. We also had mates of the same gender on Krypton.”

“Lex is in a lot of trouble,” Bruce said, looking awed at the sound of the disembodied voice echoing in the chamber. “His father may kill him if we don’t find him.”

“Kal-El, your training is important.”

“I know, Jor-El. But I cannot stand by and allow this to happen. I cannot allow my mate to be murdered. Or worse.”

“Very well. Do I have your promise that once you have completed your mission you will return to continue your training?”

“Yes, Father. I promise. I know how important my training is to you.”

He took Bruce’s hand and led him to the console, using the key to return them back to the caves via the portal. 

Bruce drove them back to the Kent farm where his parents greeted him with enthusiastic hugs. They all sat at the kitchen table, making plans.

“All right,” Clark said. “So, who’s this doctor at Belle Reve?”

“Lionel hired a woman named Claire Foster. We should probably talk to her first.”

“I doubt she’ll tell you where they’ve taken Lex,” Clark’s father cautioned.

Clark nodded. Anyone paid well by Lionel was not likely to freely give up the information. He looked at Bruce.

“What about Lex’s files on his father. He must have something which might give us a clue as to his whereabouts.”

Bruce nodded. “Yeah. I tried to get into the mansion but it’s heavily secured. It seems Lionel has stepped up security since Lex disappeared.”

“Well, it won’t keep me out. It never has. You’re more the computer expert. You just tell me what to do.”

“I have prototypes of some communication devices Mr Fox was developing for the military. Special Ops unit. I borrowed them. Well,” he added, with a smirk, “technically they’re mine anyway.”

“Gotcha. What’s the range?”

“About a mile. These were designed for short-range communication.”

Clark glanced outside. It was growing dark. 

“No time like the present,” he said. 

His mother put a hand on his wrist. “Be careful,” she said. She glanced at Bruce. “Both of you.”

“We will.”

It had grown darker still by the time they reached the mansion. Bruce handed him the small communicator and showed him how to fit it. 

“I know you’ve got super-hearing,” he said, “but …”

“I understand,” he told the brunet. He kissed him quickly. “If I’m not back in five minutes … just wait longer.”

Bruce smirked. “Yeah, it wasn’t funny in the original movie and it’s even worse now.”

Clark looked at him, pouting. “You don’t like my jokes?”

“Technically it wasn’t your joke to begin with. Will you get going, you little shit!”

“Just trying to lighten the moment,” he said before disappearing.

He easily broke the lock to the balcony door of the library, descending quietly to the floor below. Lex’s laptop was on the glass desk. 

“Okay, I’m in the mansion,” he said. He glanced around and saw a security camera in the corner. It looked new. Lex had refused to install security cameras in his study, knowing Clark might speed in. Aiming his heat vision, Clark quickly dealt with the problem. With any luck, they would just consider it a glitch. 

He opened up the laptop, listening to Bruce’s instructions as he accessed the files through the back operating system. He saved them to a flash drive. As he waited for the process to complete, he heard the sound of footsteps in the hallway. He eyed the progress bar, fidgeting. While he could speed out in less than a second, he really didn’t want to have to wait until the very last second. 

The footsteps stopped just outside the door. Anxiously, Clark glanced at the screen, then pulled out the flash drive, closing the lid of the laptop. As the double doors opened, he made his escape.

Back at the farm, he and Bruce went through the files together. Lex had managed to compile a list of all the 33.1 sites. There were a few spread through the United States and about a dozen more around the world. 

“I doubt Lionel would send him somewhere too far away,” Clark mused. 

“Yeah, I think you’re right.”

“Do we have the patient file from Belle Reve?”

Bruce shook his head. “I couldn’t get it. Why?”

“Well, from the looks of these facilities, each one does a specific type of research. If we knew what supposed therapy Lex was undergoing, we might be able to narrow it down.”

“Good idea." He reminded Clark of the drugs Helen Bryce had given Lex to make him look crazy.

Clark shook his head. That wasn’t enough to narrow their search criteria. He had to get the file from Claire Foster. 

“I’ll go talk to this psychiatrist tomorrow. Is she based at Belle Reve?”

Bruce shook his head. “She has a private practice in Metropolis.”

They continued to study the files until late that night. It was after midnight when they went to bed, sleeping together in Clark’s double bed. Both too tired and worn out with worry over Lex to talk. 

Clark left for Metropolis the next morning and quickly located Claire Foster’s office. He easily broke the lock and began rifling through her filing cabinets. The psychiatrist was clearly an old-fashioned doctor who didn’t believe in computers. Then again, it was possible she worried about the security of her patient files. Or else she was worried about what the review board would think about her ethically challenged therapy methods, he thought as he skimmed through some of her files.

“What are you doing?” a voice asked in alarm. Clark looked around at the woman. She was African-American and aged in her late forties. 

“Looking through your files,” he said. “Does the Psychiatric Council know about your unconventional methods?”

She tried to take the files from him. He could see she was trembling, clearly intimidated by his size and manner.

“How did you get into this office?” she asked.

“Broke the lock,” he told her smoothly. He gazed at her. “What I see here, you could get in a hell of a lot of trouble with the council. They might even revoke your licence to practice. That’s if you still have one.” His eyes bore into hers.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“Lex Luthor. I want everything you have on him.” She stared at him in surprise. 

“Mr Luthor is no longer my patient.”

“You still have a file on him. Where is it? I want to know what therapies you were using on him and what they were intended for.”

“Mr Luthor had a psychotic episode. From what his staff reported …”

Clark held up his hand. “I’ve heard the story and I’m not interested in the background, doctor. What were you treating him for?”

“Paranoid schizophrenia.”

“Lex is no more schizophrenic than I am. Was that your clinical diagnosis, doctor, or did Lionel just pay you to come to that conclusion?”

“I don’t …”

“Don’t even try to pretend otherwise, Doctor Foster. Lionel paid a doctor at Smallville Medical Center for drugs to make Lex look like he was having a psychotic episode. Now tell me!”

She chewed her lip. “Mr Luthor was suffering from paranoid delu …”

“Enough! Enough lies!”

She stared at him, clearly realising he wasn’t going to fall it. She backed away from him and went to the desk, picking up the phone. Clark took the phone from her hand and put it back down on the desk. He spoke to her gently but still made the threat clear.

“No phone calls. No calling for help. I’m not going to hurt you, doctor, unless you refuse to tell me what you did to Lex.”

She gazed at him for what seemed like a very long moment, then gave in. Clark listened as she told him she suspected Lionel was not only trying to alter Lex’s memories so that he couldn’t eventually testify against his father but he had also been asking questions about a radical therapy designed to suppress homosexuality. Lionel wanted a son who was not only compliant and would do everything his father demanded of him, but he also wanted a son who was not gay. 

Clark left the office in a fury, but not before telling the psychiatrist that he had some very powerful friends. More powerful than even Lionel. All it would take would be a word in the right person’s ear for the truth about her therapies and she would no longer be allowed to practice. He could see from her face that she not only understood the implication but also would not tell Lionel.

When he returned to the farm, he saw Bruce talking to someone. The man turned and smiled at him. 

“Clark. I heard you were back.”

“It’s just temporary,” he said. “Oliver. I’m glad to see you’re none the worse for wear after your ordeal.”

The blond smiled. “Yeah. Let’s just say it’s an experience I wouldn’t wish to repeat. Bruce was just telling me what you two had found out.”

“There’s more,” Clark said. “I just went and saw Lex’s psychiatrist.” 

He told the others what the woman had told him. Bruce tried to look shocked but he shook his head.

“Yeah, I can’t say I’m surprised. Lionel isn’t the only one to try such radical therapy.” He sat down at the table and opened his laptop. “Let me do some research on this. I think I can find some names of these so-called therapists.”

Oliver looked worried. “I know Lex and I had our issues in the past, but jesus. By the time Lionel gets through with him, poor Lex’s brain will be mush.”

Clark nodded. That was what he was worried about. They were running out of time.


End file.
